This article compares and contrasts mechanical joining techniques used in the manufacture of aluminum assemblies, including seaming, swaging, flanging, crimping, clinching, dimpling, interference and snap fits, and interlocking joints. It provides basic illustrations of the various methods and summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of each. The article also discusses the use of staples, nails, rivets, and threaded fasteners and provides relevant property and performance data.

Aluminum, a commonly used base material for brazing, can be easily fabricated by most manufacturing methods, such as machining, forming, and stamping. This article outlines non-heat-treatable wrought alloys typically used as base metals for the brazing process. It highlights chloride-active and fluoride-active types of fluxes that are used for torch, furnace, or dip brazing processes. The article explains the steps to be performed, including the designing of joints, preblaze cleaning, assembling, brazing techniques (dip brazing, furnace and torch brazing, fluxless vacuum brazing), flux removal techniques, and postbraze heat treatment processes. It concludes with information on the safety precautions to be followed during the brazing process.

Brazing technology is continually advancing for a variety of metals including aluminum and its alloys and nonmetals. This article discusses the key physical phenomena in aluminum brazing and the materials for aluminum brazing, including base metals, filler metals, brazing sheet, and brazing flux. It describes various aluminum brazing methods, such as furnace, vacuum, dip, and torch brazing. Friction, flow, induction, resistance, and diffusion brazing are some alternate brazing methods discussed. The article reviews the brazing of aluminum to ferrous alloys, aluminum to copper, and aluminum to other nonferrous metals. It also discusses post-braze processes in terms of post-braze heat treatment and finishing. The article concludes with information on the safety precautions considered in brazing aluminum alloys.

This article describes the commonly observed forms of airplane corrosion, namely: general corrosion, exfoliation corrosion, pitting corrosion, microbiologically induced corrosion, galvanic corrosion, filiform corrosion, crevice corrosion, stress-corrosion cracking, and fretting. It discusses the factors influencing airplane corrosion from the manufacturing perspective: design, manufacturing, and service-related factors. The article explains the collection of corrosion data and provides an overview of the implementation and evolution of airline corrosion prevention and control programs and directions being considered in the design for corrosion prevention of airplanes.

Torch soldering utilizes a fuel gas flame as the heat source in the soldering process to produce a leak-tight assembly with some degree of mechanical strength. This article describes the advantages, limitations, and applications of torch soldering. It reviews the equipment used and the basic heating techniques required for the soldering.

This article is an atlas of fractographs that helps in understanding the causes and mechanisms of fracture of cast aluminum alloys and in identifying and interpreting the morphology of fracture surfaces. The fractographs illustrate the brittle fracture, microvoid coalescence, fatigue striations, and microstructure of these alloys. The components considered include fractured sand-cast carrier trays, broken extension-housing yokes, helicopter tail-rotor drive assemblies, fractured bell-crank fittings, chain-hoist hooks, and automotive connecting rods.

This article describes the factors considered in the analysis of brazeability and solderability of engineering materials. These are the wetting and spreading behavior, joint mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, metallurgical considerations, and residual stress levels. It discusses the application of brazed and soldered joints in sophisticated mechanical assemblies, such as aerospace equipment, chemical reactors, electronic packaging, nuclear applications, and heat exchangers. The article also provides a detailed discussion on the joining process characteristics of different types of engineering materials considered in the selection of a brazing process. The engineering materials include low-carbon steels, low-alloy steels, and tool steels; cast irons; aluminum alloys; copper and copper alloys; nickel-base alloys; heat-resistant alloys; titanium and titanium alloys; refractory metals; cobalt-base alloys; and ceramic materials.

This article presents the importance of progressing from post-manufacturing inspection/verification to in-process inspection/verification methods. It lists the various quality assurance factors considered for typical composite laminate lay-up process. The article provides information on composite cure tooling that is fabricated from steel, aluminum, or high-temperature composite materials. The quality assurance for commercial applications is reviewed. The article concludes with a discussion on data fusion systems designed to provide nondestructive analysis data from fabrication and assembly processes for each individual composite part.

Adhesive bonding is a proven technology in the manufacture of automotive assemblies, helping carmakers achieve weight reduction goals without compromising body stiffness, crash performance, and noise-vibration-handling characteristics. This article discusses the advantages and limitations of adhesive-bonded aluminum joints and the procedures used to produce them. It addresses surface preparation, the addition of interfacial coatings and primers, and the application of thermoplastic and thermosetting resins. The article examines the nature and role of the various layers that constitute the joint and explains how each contributes to performance. It also discusses adhesive selection factors, joint design, and testing procedures.

This article focuses on clad brazing material, which is defined as any base material or alloy that is clad with an appropriate lower-melting-point brazing filler metal. It provides information on typical clad brazing strip products in a tabular form and lists the advantages of using clad brazing materials. The article compares the steps in using brazing preforms to fabricate a brazed assembly with the steps involved in using clad brazing materials. It concludes with a discussion on design and manufacturing considerations, during brazing with clad brazing materials.

This article describes the dip brazing process and the principal types of furnaces used for molten-salt-bath dip-brazing applications. It provides information on equipment maintenance, which is divided into temperature control, control of the liquid, and maintenance of the vessel. The article presents the typical salts used for molten-salt dip brazing of carbon and low-alloy steels with selected filler metals in tabular form. It concludes with information on dip brazing of stainless steels, cast irons, and aluminum alloys and safety precautions of the process.

This article provides a discussion on the design, in-process, storage, and in-field problems and their considerations associated with armament corrosion with examples. Design considerations include geometry, material selection, assembly, pretreatment, coatings, and working and storage environments. In-process corrosion concerns include processing locations, in-process storage of parts, time between processing steps, and quality control of each processing step. The article also discusses the analysis of the in-field corrosion of the finished product, including physical environments, repair of corrosion-protective coatings, general corrosion-protection maintenance, and appropriate fixes and procedures that can be implemented by soldiers in-field to stop continued corrosion of armament equipment.

This article discusses the effects of heavy metal impurities, environmental factors, the surface condition (such as as-cast, treated, and painted), and the assembly practice on the corrosion resistance of a magnesium or a magnesium alloy part. It provides information on stress-corrosion cracking and galvanic corrosion of magnesium alloys, as well as the surface protection of magnesium assemblies achieved by inorganic surface treatments.